Toy musical instrument



June 7, 1949. G. PROLL TOY MUSICAL INSTRUMENT Filed Jan. 51, 1947INVENTOR. awzzyfidzz,

Patented June 7, 1949 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE TOY MUSICAL INSTRUMENTGustave Proll, Newark, N. J.

Application January 31, 1947, Serial No. 725,656

2 Claims.

This invention relates to improvements in wind musical instruments ofthe tuned reed type; and the invention has reference, more particularly,to toy musical instruments of the tuned reed type in the form of aclarinet or similar style of instrument.

The invention has for an object to provide a novel, simple and easilyproduced and assembled means for mounting a succession of tuned reedswithin the tubular body of a toy instrument so that the same areoperatively positioned relative to the sound emission apertures of saidbody; said mounting means being so characterized as to space thesupported reeds away from the sound emission apertures of the body, andalso so as to provide therein a resonance chamber between each so spacedreed and the sound emission aperture of the body to which the reed isrelated.

The invention has for another object to provide a novel carrier memberor bar having longitudinally spaced, perpendicular openings therethroughcorresponding in number and positions to the number and positions of thespaced sound emission apertures with which the body of the instrument isprovided; said carrier member or bar having a slideway in its bottom orunder face portion into which can be slidably entered a reed supportingplate provided with a plurality of tuned reeds, which are attached tosaid plate in longitudinally spaced relation corresponding to thespacing of the openings of said carrier member or bar; said reedsupporting plate being adjustably positioned in assembled relation tothe carrier member or bar so as to dispose the respective reeds beneathand across said respective openings of the latter; and the top face ofsaid carrier member or bar being adapted to be sealed to the inner sideof the tubular body of the instrument, whereby to align the openings ofsaid carrier member or bar with the sound emission apertures of theinstrument body.

Other objects of this invention, not at this time more particularlyenumerated, will be understood from the following detailed descriptionof the same.

An illustrative embodiment of this invention is shown in theaccompanying drawings, in which:

Fig. l is a longitudinal sectional View of a toy musical instrument ofthe tuned reed type constructed according to the principles of thisinvention; Fig. 2 is a cross sectional View of the same, taken on line22 in Fig. 1, but drawn on an enlarged scale.

Fig. 3 is a fragmentary top or plan view of the reed carrier member orbar with the reed supporting plate operatively assembled therewith; andFig. 4 is a longitudinal sectional view thereof, taken on line 4- inFig. 3.

Fig. 5 is a fragmentary perspective view of the reed carrier member orbar and the reed supporting plate in disassembled relation, butrelatively positioned ready to be assembled.

Similar characters of reference are employed in the above describedviews, to indicate corresponding parts.

Referring to the drawings, the reference character it indicates thetubular body portion of a toy instrument of the clarinet type, to oneend of which is affixed a mouth piece H having an axial passage !2through which air may be blown into the interior of said body portion.The opposite end of said body portion I0 is closed by an end plug it,the outer portion IA of which is suitably formed to simulate thebell-shaped mouth of a Wind instrument, such as one of the clarinettype. Said tubular body portion i9 is provided with a plurality oflongitudinally spaced sound emission apertures l5. Manipulatablemechanical stop means of any well known construction may be employed tonormally close the sound emission apertures it, or said apertures may beclosed and opened merely by application of the players fingers thereto.An illustrative form of manipulatable mechanical stop means, as shown,comprises a base plate It which is suitably secured to the exterior ofthe body portion ill adjacently parallel to the row of sound emissionapertures l5. Struck up from said base plate It are fulcruming ears H tocooperate with corresponding hinge ears 18 with which the finger levers[9 of the aperture stop members 28 are provided. Said fulcruming ears i?and hinge ears l8 are pivotally joined by a hinge pintle wire 2|arranged to extend therethrough. Spring means 22 is provided inoperative relation to each finger lever I9 whereby to yieldably turn thesame about its pivotal connection so as to normally hold the stop member20 in closed relation to the sound emission aperture served thereby. Theinner sides of the stop members 25 are preferably faced with arelatively soft sealing pad 23 of suitable material, such e. g. as felt,whereby to assure closure of the engage-d sound emission apertureagainst outward passage of air therethrough. By selectively pressingupon the free end portions of the finger levers IS, the stop members 20may be moved to aperture uncovering position as required.

The novel means according to this invention for holding and positioninga plurality of tuned reeds within the interior of the instrument bodyportion l and beneath the sound emission apertures I 5 of the lattercomprises a rigid carrier member or bar 24 of substantial thickness andof suitable width and length. Said carrier member or bar 24 is providedwith a plurality of longitudinally spaced, perpendicular openings orchambers 25 which extend therethrough between its bottom and top sidesor faces. Said openings or chambers 25 correspond in number andpositions to the number and positions of the sound emission apertures l5of the instrument body portion l0. Provided in connection with thebottom or underside of the carrier member or bar 24 is a longitudinalslideway. Said slideway is formed by preferably integral beads 26 whichrespectively depend from the longitudinal marginal portions of thecarrier member or bar. The inner sides of said beads 26 are providedwith longitudinally extending, endwise open guide channels 27 which arebounded at their upper sides by the under face of the carrier member orbar and at their undersides by ledges 28. The upper face of the carriermember or bar 24 is transversely curved or arched to provide the samewith a convexity adapted to conform to the concavity of the interiorwall surface of the tubularbody portion ID of the instrument. The underface of carrier member is preferably flat.

The reference character 29 indicates a reed plate. This reed platecomprises a, preferably metallic, rectangular fiat strip or plate of awidth to correspond to the widthv of the slideway with which the underface of the carrier member or bar 24 is provided, and of a thickness tofit the guide channels 21 of said slideway. Said reed plate 29 isprovided with a plurality of longitudinally extending air passage slots30 which correspondin number and spacing to the number and spacing ofthe openings or chambers 25 of the carrier member or bar 24. Affixedtothe underside of the reed plate 29, by riveting or otherwise suitablysecuring the same thereto, are the butt portions 3! of vibratory reeds32. Said reeds 32 are respectively registered in alignment with therespective air passage slots 30, so as to be vibrated with musical toneproducing effect, when air is permitted to pass upwardly through saidslots.

To operatively assemble the reed plate 29 with the carrier member or bar24, said reed plate is slid endwise, reed side down, into and throughthe slideway of the carrier member or bar, so that the longitudinalmarginal portions of the reed plate engage in the guide channels 21 ofsaidslideway. Since the slideway is contiguous to the underface of thecarrier member or bar 24, the fiat upper face of the reed plate, whensaid reed plate is entered in and supported by the slideway, will abutsaid flat underface of the carrier-member or bar, whereby, when the reedplate is positioned so that its respective air passage slots 30 registerin alignment with the respective openings or chambers 25 of the carriermember or bar, there can be no intercommunication of air between therespective sets of thus related air passage slots '30 and openings orchambers 25.

The carrier member or bar 24 having the reed plate 29 operativelyassembled therewith is entered within the tubular body portion In of theinstrument before the mouth. piece H and end plug I 3-l4 are applied tothe ends of the latter. The entered carrier member or bar is dis posedwith its upper convex face abutted against the concave interior wallsurface of the body portlon l0 and is longitudinally adjusted to bringits respective openings or chambers 25 into operative opposed andaligned relation to the air emission apertures l5 of said body portion,whereupon the same is affixed to the body portion against shift ordisplacement by any uitable means, but preferably by gluing or cementingthe same to said body portion. Since the upper convex face of thecarrier member or bar conforms to the concavity of the interior wallsurface of the body portion, after said carrier member or bar is fixedin place, the same will be sealed to the body portion I!) so as toprevent intercommunication of air between the upper ends of the openingsor chambers 25, so that air can Vent from the respective opening orchambers 25 only through the particular air emission apertures l5 of thebody portion to which they are operatively related.

Since the carrier member or bar 24 is of substantial thickness, thereeds supported at the underside thereof are spaced a substantialdistance from the corresponding air emission apertures 15 of the bodyportion of the instrument, and so that the openings or chambers 25 ofthe carrier member or bar are interposed between said reeds and the airemission apertures. As a consequence of this, individual air columns areprovided in said openings or chambers 25 between each reed and itscorresponding air emission aperture, whereby resonance is added to thesound waves generated by the air stream vibrated reeds.

By the above it will be understood that, from the standpoint ofmanufacturing production, the novel assembly of carrier member or barand reed plate provides a very quick and easy means for introducingtheseries of tuned reeds into and operatively mounting the same relative tothe tubular body of the instrument, which is calculated to saveconsiderable time and labor in the assembling of the instrument parts;and, furthermore, from the standpoint of sound production and emissionin use of the instrument, the tones of the reeds are greatly improveddue to the provision of the openings or chambers of the carrier memheror bar, whereby resonance inducing spaces are provided between the reedsand the air emission apertures of the instrument body portion.

Since changes could be made without departing from the scope of thisinvention as defined by the here following claims, it is intended thatall matter contained in the foregoing description or shown in theaccompanying drawings shall be interpreted as illustrative and not in alimiting sense.

I claim:

1. A toy musical instrument comprising a tubular body closed at one endand having a mouthpiece at its opposite end, said body having aplurality of spaced air emission apertures therealong, a carrier memberof substantial thickness, said carrier member having a transverselyconvex top surface conforming to and sealed to the concave interiorsurface of said tubular body beneath the air emission openings thereof,said carrier member having a flat under face and bein provided withlongitudinal resonance chamber forming openings of substantial depthextending between its under and top sides, said openings being spacedcorrespondingly to the spacing of said body apertures respectively forcommunication therewith, slideway means contiguous'to and extendingalong the said flat under face of said carrier member, and a flat reedplate having a plurality of longitudinally disposed tuned reeds spacedtherealong, said reed plate being slidably entered in said slidewaymeans so as to be disposed in face to face abutment against the saidflat under face of said carrier member with the reeds respectivelyresonance aligned with the bottom ends of the resonance chamber formingopenings of said carrier member, whereby adjacent resonance chambers aresealed against intercommunication.

2. A toy musical instrument comprising a tubular body closed at one endand having a mouthpiece at its opposite end, said body having aplurality of spaced air emission apertures therealong, a carrier memberof substantial thickness, said carrier member having a transverselyconvex top surface conforming to and cemented to the concave interiorsurface of said tubular body beneath the air emission openings thereof,said carrier member having a flat under face and being provided withlongitudinal resonance chamber forming openings of substantial depthextending between its under and top sides, said openings being spacedcorrespondingly to the spacing of said body apertures respectively forcommunication therewith, said carrier member having opposed channeledguide portions dependently extending along the margins of its said flatunder face with the channels thereof contiguous to the said under faceof the carrier mem- 20 Number Name Date 173,652 Lightsinger Feb. 15,1876 2,188,157 Proelsdorfer Jan. 23, 1940 FOREIGN PATENTS 5 NumberCountry Date 18,557 Austria Dec. 10, 1904 ber, and a fiat reed platehaving air passage slots longitudinally spaced therealong and vibratoryreeds afiixed thereto with their free end portions registered over saidslots, said reed plate bein slidably entered in and between said guideportions so as to be disposed in face to face abutment against the saidflat under face of said carrier member with the reeds respectivelylongitudinally aligned with the bottom ends of the resonance chamberforming openings of said carrier member, whereby adjacent resonancechambers are sealed against intercommunication.

GUSTAVE PROLL.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file ofthis patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS

